'Atomic Bomb-Like' Tornado Damage in Oklahoma

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This footage from the stream where he opened that storm shelter where 15 people survived was awesome. I wonder how widespread these shelters are.

Seems like federal and state could work at getting more shelters like that installed.
 
To put the size of that torando in perspective. Line up approx 18 football fields, each endzone to each endzone. That's how WIDE the the thing was, when it was twisting.

To put this in perspective, line up 600 snickers bars and you have the length of a football field. This tornado was 10800 snickers bars wide.
 
This footage from the stream where he opened that storm shelter where 15 people survived was awesome. I wonder how widespread these shelters are.

Seems like federal and state could work at getting more shelters like that installed.
Agreed. Felt like something out of movie seeing them come out safe.
 
I lived in Tuscaloosa during the tornado outbreak in April 2011. That tornado had a maximum width of 1.5 miles. It was some scary shit it completely destroyed an elementary school a block from my apartment.
 
It follows the path part of the way along I-44 but it went much further east, right into the heavily populated areas in downtown Moore.

Yeah it literally crossed paths over one small section, the went east towards the lake instead of up to Tinker AFB.

Also the May 3rd 1999 tornado was not 200 mph, it was 310 mph. THREE HUNDRED FUCKING MILLES PER HOUR.
 
These homes were generally well-build brick homes.

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Like I said before, as someone who experienced this in a town I lived in first-hand, and had friends' homes destroyed, when the tornado is this powerful, it doesn't matter.

That is remarkable
 
Those pictures are stunning, and it's not like this is the first time I've seen obscene tornado damage.

I hope the casualties are low. =\
 
I wonder how a dome house fares in a tornado.
It doesn't really have roof edges for wind to get trapped and pull the structure apart. Although you cant expect one to stand up to winds this extreme.
 
Damn It's now a search and recovery mission for the school. :(

Damn it! They found some of the bodies. Oh god.....

They believe 24 kids dead.
 
I just heard that this tornado was 2 to 3 times as large as the one that hit OKC in 1999 and that was devastating.
 
These homes were generally well-build brick homes.

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Like I said before, as someone who experienced this in a town I lived in first-hand, and had friends' homes destroyed, when the tornado is this powerful, it doesn't matter.[/QUOTE]

i dont know how dumb this sounds, but is an aerodynamically built home possible for tornado alley?
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.
 
Wow.. I know exactly what they are going through, I was in Joplin in 2011 when it rolled through and destroyed the entire city. it's the most terrifying thing you'd ever hear and see. It literally wiped the city off the map.

Good luck folks, and be safe.

And as to why it's compared to an atomic bomb..

This was Joplin before and after the strongest tornado in Missouri history blew through and destroyed the entire city.

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So don't complain about it being compared. I can PROMISE you to those people there the world was destroyed to them.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

i think pretty much every other country in the world does not have as many natural disasters as the US that happens yearly constantly.

Tornados and hurricanes. As predictable as seasons. Europe got lucky in that regards
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

Already been addressed in the thread: many of the homes were made from brick. It didn't matter. They've been flattened.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

The houses are not light weight. they are built of wood, but have brick and sturdy walls on the outside. Lots of these are fully modern suburban style homes. These aren't little cheap matchstick houses. The tornado was just THAT extreme.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

You might want to read the thread before posting. Our houses are brick just like yours.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

It's not really a matter of lightweight houses. When 200+ mph winds are swirling around, slamming whatever it picks up into whatever is in its path, not much is going to stand up well to that.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.
These houses were built well. It doesn't matter.
 
They were just showing a KFOR broadcast on The Weather Channel, and were interviewing a guy who was saying they made it to their shelter, and it took 3 grown men to hold the shelter door closed as the tornado passed over. His voice was breaking as he goes "I thought we were gonna die." Made me start to tear up. So insane, I feel so sorry for all those people.

It's not done yet, either. They're showing rotation heading up, south of Joplin, MO.
 
Us Brits bitch and moan about the weather its in our blood, but when you see things like this its clear we have it so fucking easy.

Someone needs to explain something to me, why are american houses so light weight especially in areas prone to extreme weather, if I ever moved to the UK my house would be brick like over here.

They're not, but it doesn't matter anyway. Brick homes can't stand up to a force that great.
 
We had EF5s where I live (Alabama) a couple of years back at the end of April which resulted in over 200 deaths in my state, so my heart definitely goes out to these people. I can attest to the fact when EF5s hit your million dollar brick home might as well be a mobile home. Hoping the death toll is far less; storm cellars for schools should be mandatory.
 
You might want to read the thread before posting. Our houses are brick just like yours.

I dont know how houses are built over in England, but a brick house is usually still wood framed here in the States.

Hardly flimsy, though. They're still built to pretty tight safety regulations and built to withstand a good amount of abuse. Nothing is really built to withstand 200mph winds.
 
I am very upset now at hearing about what happened to the children at one of the schools. I feel for the men and women that have had to see that up close and the parents of the children.
 
i dont know how dumb this sounds, but is an aerodynamically built home possible for tornado alley?

The problem is making a home that's livable, comfortable, and affordable for people to live in. Engineering for durability in the event of a storm like this, considering that may never hit, is a challenge, especially when also trying to tick off the first three boxes which are certain everyday concerns.

One popular solution that is becoming more and more common in the Tornado Alley area of the US, is a small reinforced "safe room" inside the house designed to withstand the tornado. But that is just designed to save people. It doesn't keep the rest of your home and possessions from being blown away. Trying to engineer some "whole home" solution would likely result in either a house not many people would want to live in, and/or something few homeowners could ever afford.
 
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